Contemporary Gospel

By Bob Marovich In some ways, it was like attending a gospel music hall of fame event wrapped inside a live recording session. The Clark Sisters were seated in the front row. Richard Smallwood sat behind them. Rows of gospel announcers, gospel music producers, and popular singers were to their left and right. Chicago’s House of Hope was filled with expectation as Karen Clark Sheard, with Donald Lawrence and Company as the choir, began recording Destined to Win, her sixth solo album and second for her label, Karew Records. That was September 9, 2013. Since then, the album’s contemplative debut ...

“The Promise” Tiff Joy Tyscot Records/Walkway Music Group/VMan Entertainment Chicagoan Tiffany Joy McGhee, known as Tiff Joy, wrote and was featured on “Amazing,” the title track of Ricky Dillard & New G’s latest, and arguably most popular, album. “Amazing” earned her a Stellar Award for Song of the Year. We hear Tiff Joy again on “The Promise.” This smoothly-produced, radio-ready single is a declaration to remain steadfast in faith and hope, because when “God said it, that settles it.” She carries the song in her sandy alto until the vamp, when she shouts the song’s explicit and final declaration: “It ...

AsOne AsOne 360 MusicWorx/Capitol Christian Distribution/Universal Music Group (release date: June 23, 2015) www.AsOneOfficial.com By Bob Marovich Interracial gospel/sacred singing groups go back more than a century—from the days of Polk Miller & the Old South Quartette at the turn of the twentieth century to Homer Rodeheaver’s singing with the African American Wiseman Sextette; and from Gene Viale (of Puerto Rican heritage) in the Cleveland Singers, Elizabeth Meagher in the Exodus Singers, and the multicultural Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. The color of the skin counts less than the color of the voice, and there are rich hues in the voices and ...

E. L. Williams Where Sin Met the Blood Tate Music Group (2015) www.tatemusicgroup.com By Bob Marovich There was a time when bass singers were compulsory for any self-respecting quartet, but today they are as rare as hen’s teeth, save for classical music and opera, where the basso profundo remains the voice of maturity and wisdom, and retro doo-wop groups. Gospel quartet was once notably gifted with such legendary bottom-supporters as George McCurn (Pilgrim Travelers), Jimmy Jones (Harmonizing Four), Dickie Freeman (Fairfield Four, Skylarks), and Thomas Spann (Brooklyn All Stars), the latter being among the last of his breed still on ...

“Empty Me” Javon Inman www.javoninman.com Set for release on July 7, “Empty Me” is the latest single from award-winning independent gospel artist Javon Inman. Performed with background vocalists, “Empty Me” is a passionate and bracing mid-tempo ballad on which Inman cries out for divine intervention because “the plans of men,” aka a person’s own agenda, does nothing but cause problems. “I’m placing my life in your hands,” he pleads. “Empty me of me.” Inman’s high note leaps are mini shouts as the song’s dynamic tension builds. Born in Ohio but now a Washington, DC, area resident, Inman came to the ...

By Bob Marovich for the Journal of Gospel Music If Richard Smallwood had his druthers, the autobiography he is writing would have been released simultaneously with his new album, the two-CD Anthology Live. The album, recorded with his group, Vision, is essentially the “musical soundtrack” to his autobiography. But the music came first, and Anthology Live (RCA Inspiration) hits stores June 29. The maestro, whose song canon is among the finest in modern sacred music, talked with the Journal of Gospel Music about the new release, his and Vision’s first CD in four years. The genesis of Anthology Live, Smallwood ...

JGM‘s Bob Marovich speaks with gospel singer-songwriter Anthony Faulkner about his burgeoning world-wide music ministry that includes live performances, recordings, radio, television, and philanthropy — and how R&B star Angela Winbush (Rene’ and Angela) became his guardian angel. Check out Faulkner’s new single, “I Trust You,” during the interview.

By Bob Marovich “I like how singing makes people feel. I like the way it makes me feel when I sing. Music is a universal language. It changes everything.” With such a passion for singing burning deep inside her, it is not surprising that Shantavia “Tay” Clemons has gone on to become a solo gospel artist. She released her debut project, Journey To Love, in December 2014. The artist spoke with the Journal of Gospel Music about her journey to gospel singing and how music is indeed changing everything in her life. Clemons, who was raised with her younger brother ...

“Hey Daddy” Derrell Thomas Full Circle Records (2015) www.fullcirclerecords.us Most likely because of the primacy of the family matriarch, but also because of gospel’s roots in Victorian-era hymnody, gospel music is brimming with songs about Mother. “Mother Bowed,” “Mother Prayed for Me,” “I Can See Everybody’s Mother,” “Mother Sang Those Songs,” and so on. Father is far less represented but no less important. Evelyn Turrentine-Agee’s 2010 “My Daddy” is a Father’s Day favorite, but the radio airwaves this Father’s Day will undoubtedly also include spins of Derrell Thomas singing Lesley Brice and Qasim Coleman’s “Hey Daddy.” To a cool soul ...

DALLAS (June 9, 2015) – Grammy Award® Nominee Tamela Mann is the first Gospel lead artist in Billboard Gospel Radio chart history to score three consecutive No. 1’s from an album. Her current single, “This Place,” is the third song to ascend to No. 1 from her Tillymann Entertainment CD, Best Days. The historic Gospel radio chart honor follows the album’s previous No. 1 chart toppers, “Take Me To The King,” Best Days‘ lead single, written by Gospel icon Kirk Franklin, which is RIAA certified gold and approaching platinum, and fan favorite and second single, “I Can Only Imagine.” Best ...